Stephen Daldry and Richard Curtis Team on Trash

Random House Children’s Books and Jane Turnbull have announced that Working Title Films and PeaPie Films have acquired the film rights to “Trash,” the acclaimed novel by British author, Andy Mulligan, in a deal brokered by Jenne Casarotto of Casarotto Ramsay Associates.

Richard Curtis will adapt the novel. Alongside his many award-winning original screenplays for television (“Blackadder,” “Vicar of Dibley”) and film (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill), Curtis has also adapted previous literary work, including “The Ladies Detective Agency” and recently War Horse for director Steven Spielberg.

“Trash” is a contemporary thriller set in the third world, and follows three boys who eke out a living picking through rubbish mounds, until a surprise discovery sets them on a breathtaking adventure pitting their wits against corruption and authority.

The book is published in the UK and US by David Fickling Books, an imprint of Random House. Fickling previously saw international success with the crossover titles “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” and “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.” “Trash” has already been translated into 16 other languages.

PeaPie Films’ Kris Thykier says, “From the opening pages of ‘Trash,’ I knew that I had discovered one of the most thrilling, dynamic and inspiring books I’d ever come across. I am truly excited at the prospect of bringing Andy Mulligan’s joyful story to the screen and am honored to be working with Working Title, whom I consider to be the best production company in the world and Richard, one of my favorite screenwriters and Stephen, who is justly considered one of the greatest directors of his generation.”

Andy Mulligan says: “As far as I’m concerned this is the dream-team, and what has really impressed me is their desire to tell the story as it is, without coating it in sugar. They ‘get’ the book, and you can’t ask for more than that.”